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UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON. TACOMA
Volume 1, Issue 2
^^
Wednesday, December 11,1996
O' Christmas Tree O' Giving Tree
Photo by David Quinn
UWT's Christmas tree decorated with purple ribbons and gift tags for a family in need.
Janna Neville
Design Editor
If you've been to the Commons lately, you have seen a beautifully decorated tree covered with gift tags.
This tree is part of a project that will make Christmas merrier for a Tacoma family this year. The UWT Black Student's Union and the Pride Coalition have joined forces and are sponsoring a family this holiday season. They intend to enlist the help of the UWT's students, faculty and staff.
The tree is covered by tags that have information about each member ofthe family on them. The information was gathered by Patty Honan, Pride Coalition President, who contacted the Salvation Army and selected a family name from those who had registered for help. After choosing the family, she then contacted the modier and found out what their immediate needs were and also what some of the Christmas wishes of the children were.
Honan hopes the members of our UWT community will step forward, take a tag from the tree, fill the need and return the wrapped gift to the school by December 21. Donations of non-perishable food items are also being ac¬ cepted and can be placed under the tree or delivered to the Student Organization's office in Perkins, room 716.
Honan has confidence this will happen. She stated, "I have a lot of faith in human nature. Letting people know the need is out there is the first stq>."
UWT Honors Dr. Crawford
Toi\jia Archey
Contributing Writer
University of Washington, Tacoma presented the Dis¬ tinguished Teaching Award to Dr. Rob Crawford.
Nominations were drawn from student submissions that were tumed over to an award committee. The award com¬ mittee consisted ofthe chair from the Alumni Association, the President of the ASUWT, and one faculty member ap¬ pointed by the Dean from each program.
Upon his nomination Crawford was asked to submit a personal statement dealing with matters such as teaching efforts, approach, and philosophy. This information was used to help the committee understand the candidate's teaching activities. As many past and current students will attest, Crawford excels in his role as teacher. How¬ ever, Crawford believes himself to be a co-leamer; a prac¬ titioner as well as a participant in the art of teaching.
Crawford shares, "What I love about this University is the invitation to teach whatever I feel passionate about, with very few predetermined boundaries. The freedom of the invitation appeals to me because it goes against what I've found to be a drawback of specialization. While spe¬ cialization is valuable, disciplinary boundaries can end up kilUng the imagination."
Trained in Political Science, several years ago he be¬ came interested in contemporary culture. Crawford ex¬ plains, "Political Science did not give me the tools I needed. With Liberal Studies, the boundaries are open and there is an invitation to cross-fertilize from dififerent disciplines. My teaching has benefited from that."
"I have put together six courses that I like to teach," Crawford continued, "all dealing with modem or contem¬ porary culture. The course titles are very broad. As my interests change, I can use the same title, even though I may be teaching different things. Change and development are incorporated; they are the life-blood of teaching. UWT encourages, rather than restricts, such development."
Crawford states, 'To be a teacher is a privilege, espe¬ cially in this program. My work is my passion and a love. Teaching allows me to transform my interests into prac¬ tice. The classroom is my workshop, the place where I attempt to communicate ideas and realities I believe are important to talk about in our time. It is a place of conver¬ sation. As I listen and respond, my interests and ways of thinking are transformed. The classroom changes me."
"Part of the privilege is the playful element. What fas¬ cinates? Where does this arise? I am a social being in the late 20th century," states Crawford, "what passionately engages me in play is very serious. Sometimes I worry that I am overly serious. I want it to be fun. If it's not fun for me it's not going to be fun for anyone else. I want to avoid being stale by repetition. I am always moving on my subject matter. This is both an opportunity and a dan¬ ger. Being continually open and stimulated, which can involve and stimulate others, also creates the danger of becoming too much a jack-of-all trades. I tend to test the depth of water with both feet."
Crawford utilizes the potential for the classroom as a place of growth through discussion, a fomm for leaming by means of exchange. He postulates further on the role of the classroom, "Education. The word means to educe, to bring forth. Bring forth what? Experience. Hopefully in conversation experience can be re-imagined; which not only gives us the power to understand our world, but to trans¬ form it. The life most worth living is a conscious, reflec¬ tive life. The challenge of good teaching is to connect."
Photo by David Quinn
Dr. Rob Crawford, 1995/1996 Distinguished Teaching Award recipient.
The classroom's format helps to promote conversation. Crawford states, "Conversation is not just talk; good con¬ versation has to be on common ground. One of the jobs of a good teacher is to create a common ground, to invite students into a conversation of a particular nature. I try to do this by bringing my lifelong engagement with my ideas, culture and history into the classroom setting, the com¬ mon ground. It is not so much what is said in the class¬ room, but what is said after and in the future. The seed would have been planted; a conversational seed. The de¬ sire is to keep the conversation going, to keep conscious."
Crawford's sabbatical begins Winter quarter 1997. This sabbatical offers him the occasion to revitalize essential elements. Crawford explains, 'Taking a sabbatical is an opportunity for me to get back in touch with that other part of me, that researcher/writer which is inevitably ne¬ glected when one puts so much energy into teaching. I hope to come back with renewed energy. In order to redis¬ cover how good something is, one must get away."
Crawford reflects, "The award is a mandate for continual striving. Does my teaching work? Well-it works some of the time. I always know that there is a lot more I can do. The award was a recognition that I am a practitioner of the art. To be a practitioner of the art is to know that any success is only a partial success. There is always more to do. There are students in my class that I know my teach¬ ing isn't working for, I'm very conscious of that and worry I haven't found a way to check them in."
This award has given the University of Washington, Tacoma, its Alumni and
student body the chance to show their appreciation to an exceptional educator who has expanded student's percep¬ tions and encouraged independent thought. "I am very gratified by the award," said Crawford, "I take teaching very seriously. Of all the recognitions that you can get for anything, this one means the most to me. Because every¬ day I teach, I am more of a teacher than anything else. It is an honorable award. It is a tme honor to receive it."

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UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON. TACOMA
Volume 1, Issue 2
^^
Wednesday, December 11,1996
O' Christmas Tree O' Giving Tree
Photo by David Quinn
UWT's Christmas tree decorated with purple ribbons and gift tags for a family in need.
Janna Neville
Design Editor
If you've been to the Commons lately, you have seen a beautifully decorated tree covered with gift tags.
This tree is part of a project that will make Christmas merrier for a Tacoma family this year. The UWT Black Student's Union and the Pride Coalition have joined forces and are sponsoring a family this holiday season. They intend to enlist the help of the UWT's students, faculty and staff.
The tree is covered by tags that have information about each member ofthe family on them. The information was gathered by Patty Honan, Pride Coalition President, who contacted the Salvation Army and selected a family name from those who had registered for help. After choosing the family, she then contacted the modier and found out what their immediate needs were and also what some of the Christmas wishes of the children were.
Honan hopes the members of our UWT community will step forward, take a tag from the tree, fill the need and return the wrapped gift to the school by December 21. Donations of non-perishable food items are also being ac¬ cepted and can be placed under the tree or delivered to the Student Organization's office in Perkins, room 716.
Honan has confidence this will happen. She stated, "I have a lot of faith in human nature. Letting people know the need is out there is the first stq>."
UWT Honors Dr. Crawford
Toi\jia Archey
Contributing Writer
University of Washington, Tacoma presented the Dis¬ tinguished Teaching Award to Dr. Rob Crawford.
Nominations were drawn from student submissions that were tumed over to an award committee. The award com¬ mittee consisted ofthe chair from the Alumni Association, the President of the ASUWT, and one faculty member ap¬ pointed by the Dean from each program.
Upon his nomination Crawford was asked to submit a personal statement dealing with matters such as teaching efforts, approach, and philosophy. This information was used to help the committee understand the candidate's teaching activities. As many past and current students will attest, Crawford excels in his role as teacher. How¬ ever, Crawford believes himself to be a co-leamer; a prac¬ titioner as well as a participant in the art of teaching.
Crawford shares, "What I love about this University is the invitation to teach whatever I feel passionate about, with very few predetermined boundaries. The freedom of the invitation appeals to me because it goes against what I've found to be a drawback of specialization. While spe¬ cialization is valuable, disciplinary boundaries can end up kilUng the imagination."
Trained in Political Science, several years ago he be¬ came interested in contemporary culture. Crawford ex¬ plains, "Political Science did not give me the tools I needed. With Liberal Studies, the boundaries are open and there is an invitation to cross-fertilize from dififerent disciplines. My teaching has benefited from that."
"I have put together six courses that I like to teach," Crawford continued, "all dealing with modem or contem¬ porary culture. The course titles are very broad. As my interests change, I can use the same title, even though I may be teaching different things. Change and development are incorporated; they are the life-blood of teaching. UWT encourages, rather than restricts, such development."
Crawford states, 'To be a teacher is a privilege, espe¬ cially in this program. My work is my passion and a love. Teaching allows me to transform my interests into prac¬ tice. The classroom is my workshop, the place where I attempt to communicate ideas and realities I believe are important to talk about in our time. It is a place of conver¬ sation. As I listen and respond, my interests and ways of thinking are transformed. The classroom changes me."
"Part of the privilege is the playful element. What fas¬ cinates? Where does this arise? I am a social being in the late 20th century," states Crawford, "what passionately engages me in play is very serious. Sometimes I worry that I am overly serious. I want it to be fun. If it's not fun for me it's not going to be fun for anyone else. I want to avoid being stale by repetition. I am always moving on my subject matter. This is both an opportunity and a dan¬ ger. Being continually open and stimulated, which can involve and stimulate others, also creates the danger of becoming too much a jack-of-all trades. I tend to test the depth of water with both feet."
Crawford utilizes the potential for the classroom as a place of growth through discussion, a fomm for leaming by means of exchange. He postulates further on the role of the classroom, "Education. The word means to educe, to bring forth. Bring forth what? Experience. Hopefully in conversation experience can be re-imagined; which not only gives us the power to understand our world, but to trans¬ form it. The life most worth living is a conscious, reflec¬ tive life. The challenge of good teaching is to connect."
Photo by David Quinn
Dr. Rob Crawford, 1995/1996 Distinguished Teaching Award recipient.
The classroom's format helps to promote conversation. Crawford states, "Conversation is not just talk; good con¬ versation has to be on common ground. One of the jobs of a good teacher is to create a common ground, to invite students into a conversation of a particular nature. I try to do this by bringing my lifelong engagement with my ideas, culture and history into the classroom setting, the com¬ mon ground. It is not so much what is said in the class¬ room, but what is said after and in the future. The seed would have been planted; a conversational seed. The de¬ sire is to keep the conversation going, to keep conscious."
Crawford's sabbatical begins Winter quarter 1997. This sabbatical offers him the occasion to revitalize essential elements. Crawford explains, 'Taking a sabbatical is an opportunity for me to get back in touch with that other part of me, that researcher/writer which is inevitably ne¬ glected when one puts so much energy into teaching. I hope to come back with renewed energy. In order to redis¬ cover how good something is, one must get away."
Crawford reflects, "The award is a mandate for continual striving. Does my teaching work? Well-it works some of the time. I always know that there is a lot more I can do. The award was a recognition that I am a practitioner of the art. To be a practitioner of the art is to know that any success is only a partial success. There is always more to do. There are students in my class that I know my teach¬ ing isn't working for, I'm very conscious of that and worry I haven't found a way to check them in."
This award has given the University of Washington, Tacoma, its Alumni and
student body the chance to show their appreciation to an exceptional educator who has expanded student's percep¬ tions and encouraged independent thought. "I am very gratified by the award," said Crawford, "I take teaching very seriously. Of all the recognitions that you can get for anything, this one means the most to me. Because every¬ day I teach, I am more of a teacher than anything else. It is an honorable award. It is a tme honor to receive it."